Juneau, Alaska

Another beautiful, sunny and warm day in Alaska! We had some whispy cloud cover in the early morning, but it turned into a sunny warm day.

As we’re pulling into Juneau – we were one of several ships in port that day

An old power plant building we remembered from the last time we were here… it doesn’t look any different!

The view of Juneau from our ship. We rode that cable car later in the day.

Adam and Kevin alongside our ship in Juneau

Interesing sign

Adam in Juneau

Today we went panning for gold! We thought it would be fun to follow in the footsteps of some of the earliest gold-rush settlers of Alaska, so we went on an excursion that took us panning for gold, and then to an old fashioned salmon bake! Our weather was wonderful again, and we had a terrific time!

Here’s our photos from panning – it was a beautiful river area, and we all found a little bit of gold to bring home.

Adam in a mining cart

The beautiful area we were panning in.

Here’s our guide – complete in the ‘appropriate’ attire for the occasion..

Our guide – giving us pointers on how to pan for gold.

The beautiful area we were panning in.

After giving us a crash course in panning, we set out to make our fortunes!

Kevin with his pan of dirt!

Adam with his pan of dirt!

After we were done looking for gold, it was time to head over for a salmon bake. We had delicious salmon, that was topped off with a yummy sweet glaze, and all the ‘fixins’ to go along with in, including Alaskan Blueberry cake. After our meal, we explored the nearby river – where the salmon were actually running upstream in their yearly trek, and we also saw the site of an old gold mine.

After we finished the salmon bake, our excursion was over. Our guide gave us the option to go back to the ship or to be dropped off downtown. We still had half a day left in Juneau, so we chose to be dropped off downtown. We had a soda, and explored downtown for a while. Here’s the famous “Red Dog Saloon” where our driver dropped us off.

After we were done exploring the shops downtown, we decided to take the Mount Roberts Tramway up to the top of the hill. The day was absolutely perfect for it.

Our view as we were heading up the mountain…

The view from the top of the mountain was beautiful. The photos do not do it justice.

There is a nature center at the top – and they have an eagle on display. She was found injured several years ago, and is a permanent resident there. She was patient as folks took her photo…